District Councillor Shane Ward

31/10/2026

District Council elections will take place in May 2027. However, if recent announcements by reputable sources are anything to go by, the elected members will serve only until May 2029.

Despite what you may have heard about Unitary Councils being scrapped, they were only reviewed. The legal challenges by both Reform and the Conservatives achieved nothing more than delaying the whole process by one year and costing the taxpayer in legal fees.

Personally I do not believe in spinning the truth to favour a political ideology. I would rather give you the facts as they are. Trying to spin facts to suit does not go well, as the Reform led County Council is finding out. They were elected partly on the promise to cut waste. The fact is that they haven't found any but will be cutting services to tell you they have cut waste. The current proposal is to close a recycle centre and cut hazardous waste days to one a year instead of two. The uncomfortable truth is that fly tipping is on the rise and the County may well see more waste as a result.

Reports suggest that Reform also want to cut SEND services and reduce verge cutting. They also removed County Councillor's grant for spending on local road improvements, preferring to lump all the money into Highways. So mind that pothole, sir.

District Council has been led by a coalition of Liberal Democrats, Labour and Greens over the last 4 years and has worked really well. One of the major successes has been the reduction of using hotels and B&Bs to house people in temporary accommodation. Instead the council purchased houses, partly using central government grants, resulting in the saving of £1 million (every year) and using the rent to self finance the mortgages. The budget for District Council is not only balanced but services have been improved and the District's portion of council tax has been frozen for the last two years. Long term plans achieving more than short term political sticking plasters.

It is with this kind of knowledge and experience that serving out the final two years of the life of the District Council will require a firm understanding of how to transition a whole service into a Unitary Council.

The timetable is as follows:
May 2027 Broadland District Council elections
(note that there will also be Parish Council elections)
May 2028 Unitary Council elections (to shadow District and County for one year until transition is complete)
May 2029 Mayoral elections

It will be important to come out and vote. While elections every year for three years is a pain (there would have been only two years of this if certain political parties had not put a spanner in the spokes) this is the biggest change to how Norfolk is run in over 50 years.

So my role as a District Councillor, if you choose to elect me for another term, has a shelf life of just two years. In 2029 there will be no more District Council or County Council.

Finally I could really do with some help with leaflet deliveries, no more than 5 runs between January to April, especially in Stratton Strawless and Hainford. If you feel you could give me some of your time I would be most grateful.

I am happy to discuss further.

28/10/2026

Gas vat reduction with electricity to follow in the budget. Not wishing to engage in ‘whataboutary’, Broadland has a number of kerosene heating oil. Considering that kerosene is more than double in cost, where is the support for rural houses with oil heating?

05/10/2026

In response to residents' concerns. I met with Highways to discuss how to make the junction from The Street into Brick Kiln Road safer.

Many drivers habitually slow down only after they reach a speed sign, so coming down from 30mph to 20mph tends to involve vehicles hitting the Brick Kiln Road junction at more than 20mph. The likelihood is that these are villagers who know the road well.

To date there are no reports of accidents with pedestirans, however, both children and dog walkers will use the road mostly unseen by drivers until they have reached the junction.

Part of the problem in terms of visibility rests with the high bushes obscuring what is just around the corner. I am happy to say that there are plans to remove those bushes, as a new house is being built on that corner.

Additionally, I have asked Highways to paint a '20' marker on the floor by the first 20mph sign. This was the best and most expedient option available, however, it may yet not come to be completed until at least the May of 2027.

In the meantime, can I please ask all drivers using this junction to reduce their speed to the correct 20mph at the first 20mph sign.

Many thanks

24/09/2026

Punitive, pernicious and petty.

The nasty party is back with a vengeance, wanting to punish people by taking away their freedom to spend money as they wish. The conservative way is usually less government and promoting personal choice. Kemi Badenoch's latest salvo is the exact opposite.

She also notes that some people on benefits are better off than some who work full time, but does not manage to join the dots as to why this is possible. She appears to believe that benefits are too high rather than wages are too low. In a cost of living crisis, where it is almost impossible to make ends meet for some and where dreams of owning a house is a fantasy - even for working people - would it not be more productive to offset working tax credits against an employers increase in wages?

It is all but obvious that Kemi acknowledges some on Universal Credit have no appetite to get a job and be worse off. Surely the objective should be to make people better off by working. But that would mean having some consideration for the prospective employee at the cost of the employer.

Kemi Badenoch has pledged to block long-term benefits claimants from spending taxpayer cash on alcohol, ci******es and gambling under Tory plans to slash the welfare bill.

07/09/2026

News today that the plans for Local Government Reform (LGR) forming 3 unitary councils in Norfolk has been placed on hold pending a review.

Accuracy matters, particularly with media sensationalism, social media propaganda and political spinning. Reform announced that LGR had been scrapped. This is not accurate.

However, what it does mean is that County and District Councils will stay as they are for at least another term, meaning that District Council elections will take place in May 2027.

Not sure about when County elections will happen.

12/07/2026

If the Chairman is unable to attend a civic function, the Vice Chair can go in his stead. So I spent my afternoon walking with the Lord Mayor, the Deputy Lord Lieutenant (Norman Lamb) and other dignitaries in the Norwich Lord Mayor's Procession from Norwich Cathedral to the Norwich Theatre Royal.

Roads were packed with onlookers. The procession was noisy and colourful. A great atmosphere and good natured fun. Ahead of the Mayor were whifflers, making sure that no one got in her way. In bygone times the whifflers would beat people with sticks if they impeded the Mayor's progress.

Civic duties may calm down over the August holidays but maybe more events to attend in September.

10/06/2026

At the Town and Parish forum yesterday (attended by councillors), it was announced that there would be a 'call for sites' to plan for the 2040 Greater Norwich Local Plan (GNLP).

The last time this happened at the GNLP for 2028, many residents in the local area 'mobbed' the Parish Council in Hevingham to complain, believing that if a site were proposed, there would be new building off single-lane roads and inappropriate housing placements. I believe that the reason why so many residents reacted was because the process had not been clearly explained. Hence my writing this rather lengthy note.

I was at that Parish Council meeting as just another resident (2018) and watched the drama unfold into some unnecessary conflict with the process still not clearly explained in layman's terms. With this in mind I would like to reassure residents that just because a site is proposed it doesn't mean it automatically becomes part of the GNLP. Also the call for sites may be at least a year away.

Hevingham had many inappropriate proposals, all of which were dismissed in the first round of selections. Particularly the first dismissals would relate to places where roads are too narrow, drainage inadequate, infrastructure pressures and anything else that would cost Highways too much money to accommodate.

So if a proposal appears later to be accepted that does not sit right with residents, there will be plenty of opportunity at that time to lodge any formal objections. The first call for sites is not that time because the chances are that the one you are concerned about would not have made it to round 2.

If anyone is still unsure about the process, please do contact me.

09/06/2026

My first official engagement as vice chair of Broadland District Council was to represent Broadland at the North Norfolk Gala Reception celebrating the 125th birthday of Cromer Pier on 8th June 2026.

Lady Dannat, Lord Lieutenant of Norfolk attended alongside many other chairs and vice chairs from the region.

The photo opportunity with the Cromer Mascot seemed appropriate.

02/06/2026

Those seeking legal advice over the decision to have three Unitary Councils in Norfolk are the same people who wanted either one or two Unitary Councils.

Reform, as I understand it, want to scrap the whole thing and keep things as they are.

This has created uncertainty for the future, which I suspect amounts to no change. All three opposers argue for different things to each other. All will quite happily use tax payers money to argue their case, rather than make any attempt to find solutions.

Most of our District Councils argued for three Unitary Councils because some services are unique to more local areas. Statutory services can still be combined under one roof, as it were, but discretionary services for one area will not necessarily be appropriate in another. Norfolk was given no choice in changing to a Unitary body with a Mayor, so we had to find the most effective solution.

I see the legal challenges to be an unwelcome distraction from the short time we have to make the transition to a Unitary body as effective as possible.

02/06/2026